How to Increase Conversions on eCommerce Websites with Effective Blogging Strategies

How to Increase Conversions on eCommerce Websites with Effective Blogging Strategies

tips for increasing ecommerce conversions

 

Blog writing is a great marketing strategy for businesses who want to establish a presence on the internet. Not only will a blog with high-quality content improve brand awareness, it is also a key component in driving traffic to products or services the business offers.

Demand Metric recently brought forward an infographic that revealed that content marketing costs 62 percent less on average than conventional marketing approaches and yields roughly 3 times the number of leads as other approaches. Additionally, 60 % of consumers are motivated to pursue a product or service after reading about it. The biggest downside to running a blog, however, is generating content on a regular basis that is helpful and engaging. But if you can pull it off, visitors will continuously return to check out updates on an ongoing basis and businesses will harvest the fruits.

With that in mind, creating content is truly only the tip of the iceberg when setting out to implement a great e-commerce blog strategy. Below are three tips that will help your blog not merely develop into a prime online destination for buyers, but will also increase conversions for your business. There are many other ways to increase conversions on your website, but these will give you a good start.

1. Suggest Content

 

Most online retailers showcase their top selling inventory on their product pages in an effort to improve product visibility, sales and average order values – so why not carry out the same strategy with your blog content?

Research is often the initial phase inside the conversion funnel, and those who extend that research process possess a much better opportunity for conversion. Beauty retailer Birchbox, for instance, harnesses content suggestions on each and every blog post. For this reason, it’s easy for individuals to carry on with their research quest. For example, Birchbox’s suggested content box allows consumers who are exploring face creams to check out “The Miracle Cream I can’t Leave Home Without” with only a mouse click after they read “The Multi-Tasking Cream that Our French Editors are Obsessed With.”

To provide suggested content to blog visitors, bloggers can take advantage of a system like AddThis Pro, that provides suggestion widgets which work to maintain visitor engagement on a site. Additionally, retailers have the capacity to modify the widgets to promote specific content.

2. Create a Community

 

E-Commerce websites are able to use blogs for much more than simply writing lists and delivering details about products. In fact, these bloggers can transform their blogs into a community by means of producing engaging posts. Enter Forever 21 and Nordstrom. Both of these retailers mix engaging posts within their blogs to inspire consumer interaction and further blog visits.

Forever 21, for example, uses its blog to market a contest that shows consumers sporting the retailer’s unique makeup collection. To get involved, customers were required to visit and follow the company on Instagram, upload a selfie along with particular brand-related hashtags and return to the Forever 21 blog to check out the winners. In contrast, Nordstrom, used its blog to advertise their SJP Collection (Sarah Jessica Parker). This post not only showcased various methods of wearing the line, but also gave consumers an opportunity to engage with the brand by uploading a picture to the retailer that showed off various other ways of personalizing the line. Contributors are then asked to revisit the site to find out if their street-style picture is featured in Sarah Jessica’s next guest editor post.

3. Close the Sale

 

Given that research is normally the initial step on the journey to sales, retailers should use data extracted from their blogs to close the sale.

Among the best methods for businesses to acquire prospects using their blog is simply by presenting a pop-up email subscription box to new users. By doing this, you’re not merely increasing your subsciber list, but you’re also tracking visitors’ browsing habits in order to personalize email promotions. MailChimp, actually provides a function called “Goal” that allows users to send targeted emails determined by website activity. By means of this feature, a clothing retailer could create campaigns to nurture consumers from the sales funnel according to website activity.

In addition to email, merchants might also use visitor data from their blog to reach consumers through remarketing strategies. For instance, if your prospect is known to spend time reading a beauty retailer’s article that provides a guide on “how to create a smoky eye,” the merchant may create a remarketing campaign using a platform like AdRoll that displays a smoky eye makeup kit in an attempt to close the sale.

 

avatar
Jeff Bickley
jeff@brownboxbranding.com

Over the past decade, Jeff has worked with numerous Fortune 100 and Start-Up companies to establish, reinvent, and re-enforce their brand. A serial entrepreneur at heart, Jeff has a passion for leveraging his vast experience to provide solid and timely advice to business leaders at all levels.

14 Comments
  • avatar
    Chris Hobbs
    Posted at 23:49h, 16 April

    An inclusive content marketing strategy that expands beyond your own blog will also prove helpful in increasing conversions. When people see your brand highlighted on other websites it adds credibility. Very helpful in an age where e-commerce sites are a dime/dozen.

  • avatar
    Bill Kindt
    Posted at 21:53h, 16 April

    At the end of the day, traffic, high rankings, number of twitter followers, etc, mean nothing unless you’re converting those into revenue. These are excellent strategies to increase conversion rates. Of course, a well designed website, clear calls to action, and excellent customer service will go a long way as well 🙂

  • avatar
    Glenda Horton
    Posted at 15:48h, 16 April

    Great post and awesome strategies on how to convert blog readers to buyers

  • avatar
    Austin Luzier
    Posted at 15:29h, 16 April

    I was aware of some of these strategies, but I didn’t know you could set this up so precisely with addthis pro. Thanks for sharing!

  • avatar
    Fred Jones
    Posted at 13:55h, 16 April

    We’ve seen a dramatic increase in our website traffic since we began blogging consistently. However, converting these visitors has been more of a challenge. On the positive side, we’re building great brand recognition and establishing ourselves as an online authority. However, with these ideas, hopefully we’ll begin to convert at a higher rate in the short term. Thanks!

  • avatar
    Burton Haynes
    Posted at 20:16h, 15 April

    I just want to tell you that I’m a beginner blogger and really enjoyed you’re web site. More than likely I’m going to bookmark your blog. You certainly come up with awesome stories. Thanks a lot for sharing with us your webpage.

  • avatar
    Doug Libbett
    Posted at 13:19h, 14 April

    I’m having a really hard time keeping up with my blog writing. These are all great tips, but first I need updated content on a regular basis. Is that a service you offer? Blog writing I mean…

  • Pingback:David Smith
    Posted at 18:02h, 05 April

    I’ve added the addthis pro account as you suggested, but can’t figure out how to make it work. Can you please help me with this?

  • avatar
    job employment
    Posted at 15:27h, 04 April

    Fantastic post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Thanks!

    • avatar
      Jeff Bickley
      Posted at 16:27h, 04 April

      Thanks for your interest in the topic. We’ll definitely keep this in mind for a future post. In the meantime, you’re free to ask questions here, or give us a call to discuss.

  • avatar
    homeschool resources
    Posted at 10:33h, 04 April

    Hello! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when browsing from my iphone4. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. Thanks!

    • avatar
      Jeff Bickley
      Posted at 16:25h, 04 April

      Hi There. This year it’s expected that mobile users will surpass fixed internet users for the first time in history, so making your website mobile friendly is very important. Depending on the platform incorporating a mobile version can be very easy or could be a real challenge. For example, with a WordPress site, it normally involves swapping out your theme with one that is responsive – meaning that it will automatically adjust to the visitor’s browser size. You can find a responsive wordpress theme by simply googling that term. If you’re on another platform, you’d have to determine if a responsive or mobile friendly version is available. If you’d like help with this, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Every website we build is responsive in nature.

  • avatar
    Evan Nickols
    Posted at 06:15h, 04 April

    Great points. We all know we should be blogging consistently, but this takes it to the next level when attempting to convert blog readers/followers to buyers. Thanks!